Venice, More Art, Angels and Architecture

As may have become clear, I do enjoy a good art gallery, and as well as the modern art galleries Venice also has the Galleria Accademia, where they keep all the renaissance art (and later - it covers the 14th to 18th Centuries) .

One of the first rooms you go into is in what used to be the refectory of the Scuola Grande della Carità, which is a 14th C building, and has an amazing wooden ceiling covered in cherubim. Apparently, no two faces are the same.. 

Angel Ceiling, Galleria Dell'Accademia

The gallery's collection is arranged broadly chronological, so you start with 14th and 15th Century religious art - lots of lovely Renaissance Angels and the occasional dragon.

Quite a lot of the rooms were closed when I visited, so I didn't get to see a lot of the later stuff, but I did very much enjoy the room with a series of paintings of 'The Miracles of the True Cross', by Carpaccio, Gentile Bellini,  and Mansueti.

'Miracolo della Croce caduta nel canale di San Lorenzo'- Gentile Bellini, 1500

They show meticulous pictures of Venice in the late 1400's. (Theoretically involving miracles attributable to a relic of the true cross, but really more about the people and the scenery!)

Detail from Carpaccio's 'Miracle of the Cross at the Ponte di Rialto' (1496)

There are gondolas and gondoliers and  posh Venetians, and pictures of the Rialto and on St Mark's

 'Processione in piazza San Marco' Gentile Bellin, 1496

 It's fascinating to see so many little details of Venice in 1500! 

After leaving the gallery, I found another relic of Renaissance Venice, the Scala Contarini del Bovolo, a beautiful, delicate, external spiral staircase.

It was built in around 1400, and is just lovely. 

You can climb the tower, and there are views out across Venice from the top.

The un-named (but sneaky) architect of the tower made the arches smaller on each level as the tower goes up, to make it look taller than it really is!

This was my last full day, so I then spent some time just wandering around and enjoying the sights.

..and the traghetto, and the canals.

I admired the beautifully decorated gondolas 'parked' outside the guesthouse I was staying at, and generally drank in the atmosphere.

It  was all rather nice.

The following morning I had a little time to wander around again before catching the boat back to the airport to fly home.

It was a lovely sunny morning, which made it harder to leave, but at least the trip across the lagoon was pleasant!